Types of Thai Poetry

About 20th century Thai literature :
Thai Literature has an extensive history and culture. Thai literature has always been influenced by Indian literature. The national epic of Thailand is Ramakien, which is a Thai adaptation of Indian Ramayana. All the kings of Chakri Dynasty have been eminent writers and poets. Thai literature greatly flourished under the patronage of these kings.More....

Type Of Thai Poetry :
Poetry in Thailand is thought to have appeared during the Sukhothai period. There are many Types of Thai Poetry. Classical Thai poetry can be divided principally into five types: Khloong, Chan, Kaap, Kloon and Raay. Every type has a distinct style and a definite rhythm. Khloong and Raay are believed to be the original Thai forms of poetry, while the remaining are adapted versions. More....

Sponsored Links :

Type Of Thai Poetry :

Poetry in Thailand is thought to have appeared during the Sukhothai period. There are many Types of Thai Poetry. Classical Thai poetry can be divided principally into five types: Khloong, Chan, Kaap, Kloon and Raay. Every type has a distinct style and a definite rhythm. Khloong and Raay are believed to be the original Thai forms of poetry, while the remaining are adapted versions.

Khloong can be termed as the earliest forms of Thai poetry. Educated and sophisticated people generally follow Khloong since it is considered as an intellectual form of poetry. Khloong has different and elaborate tonal and rhythmic constrains and has been developed on the basis of Thai language. Another prominent and distinct form of poetry is Chan type. This poetry contains two types of syllables called the light or lahu and heavy or kharu. These syllables are arranged in innumerable and different forms and sequences.

Raay is one of the oldest verse forms of Thai poetry generally used for drafting laws and chronicles. Raay typically contains a five-syllable group of sentence that is linked together by a rhyme. This form of poetry usually contains more than one sentence in a single stanza. Syllable number and tone placement are very much similar in Raay and Khloong. Lilit is another form of Thai poetry where raay and khloong are alternately used.

Although, regarded by many scholars as the original Thai form of poetry, Kloon has certain similarities with the Chinese verse. This type of poetry generally has 4-8 syllables per line. Another important form of Thai poetry is the Kaap. It has a definite rhythm and requires a fixed number of syllables. Although the rhythm is similar to Chan form of poetry, Kaap does not require the use of lahu and kharu syllables for making tone. There are several variations inside Kaap depending on the number of syllables per line. The most common are the yaanii that contains eleven syllables per line, cha-bang that has sixteen syllables and suraangkhanaang having twenty-eight syllables per line.